Blame it on Marie Antoinette. When the vain queen wore feathers in her hat, one woman's whim became a trend that lasted more than a century and practically decimated avian populations. According to a 1913 study by the director of the New York Zoological Park; in 1911, the feathers of 129,186 egrets, 13,598 herons, 20,698 birds of paradise, 41,090 hummingbirds, 9,464 eagles, condors and other birds of prey, and 9,472 other birds were sold at auction in London for the millinery trade. And that's 11 years after the first American animal protection law - the Lacey Act of 1900 - was passed. And, those numbers were for one year. Unimaginable.
For those of you that watch the wonderful Downton Abbey, you'll notice the feathered hats worn by the manor born.
For those of you that watch the wonderful Downton Abbey, you'll notice the feathered hats worn by the manor born.